What Is Prairie?

Prairie is the mosaic of native grasses and wildflowers that once blanketed the Red River Valley. Much as the white pine is a characteristic species of the northwoods, big bluestem grass and the pasque flower are among the emblematic species of the prairie.

Great Plains grasslands are classified into three types: tallgrass, mixed-grass, and shortgrass prairie. The lush tallgrass is the stuff of legend, as it grows up to six feet tall. Tallgrass prairies were found along the eastern edge of the Great Plains, and a slender tongue of the tallgrass extended north through the Red River Valley. Though these grasslands have almost completely disappeared, one last prairie remains in its native state in North Dakota's Grand Forks County.

The Grand Forks County Prairie is especially diverse because it includes wet meadows and tallgrass prairie along with the mixed-grass prairie associated with the central Great Plains. Parts of these native grasslands are unique ecologically because they include examples of wet saline prairie, with an array of plant species such as inland saltgrass, sea blite, and red samphire - all typical of rare inland salt springs.